Werewolves

About

Among the many curses one could acquire in this world, the one most purposely sought out has been the curse of Lycanthropy. One can inherit this curse from birth or be infected it by it through a handful of known means. The potential power one stands to gain from infection is significant however there is always a price to be paid, and the cost is often more than ones soul can bare.

Werewolves come in as many shapes and sizes as the people the curse inhabits. Their temperaments range from ferocious blood thirsty beasts to timid creatures that bemoan their very existence. One aspect central to the condition of Lycanthropy that few know of is that the monster you become, is the very person you always were deep down. Now unshackled from the fear of societal repercussion.

The types who willingly partake of the curse are oft those seeking a means to abandon the frail pitiable human being that they think themselves to be. They learn soon enough that there are aspects to the curse that one can never fully grasp until they are locked down with them for the rest of their life. One aspect, central to the condition few are willingly admit to, is that the monster you become, is the very person you always were deep down. Now unfettered by the fear of societal repercussion.

It's all well and good when your the most powerful creature in the realm. But just as there is always a bigger fish, werewolves unwilling to bend to the dictations of society will soon find themselves at the mercy of far greater powers. The destruction they may cause to friends and family before being put in check will be... significant.

Origins

Werewolves, like most other species of subhumans and monsters, find their origins in the twilight days of the Pioneering Age. It was a period where the pursuit of scientific knowledge had become severed from any sense of moral code. This practice came to be known as arcane sciences and the worse of it was carried out aboard the Starship Dina.

Lady Lupina, the reigning matriarch of Starship Dina, had become swept up in an animal cult that viewed all humans as worthless trash when compared to the purity of animals. Given that she herself was human, she had an intense sense of self hatred. She long dreamed of abandoning her humanity, but saw anything short of a true full body transformation to be insufficient toward fulfilling her twisted desires.

Toward this end, Lady Lupina unshackled her greatest scientific minds by green lighting human experimentations. At first prisoners with death sentences were experimented on, when those bodies ran short she had her royal guard resort to kidnapping. When the disappearances began drawing suspicion from the Aegis Security Forces she enacted new sweeping medical programs against a mysterious arcane plague that had suddenly stricken her people.

She sowed terror among the populace claiming that this plague had originated from one of the other Starships. The ensuring panic made the perfect smoke screen to enact strict quarantines against visitors from the other ships, thus crippling the movement of the Aegis personnel. All it took was a few strategically placed mutated bodies provided by her Arcanist to seal the deal.

The terror of this newly discovered arcane disease saw to it that every man woman and child aboard Starship Dina eagerly participated in a new series of experimental vaccinations. The radical surge of disappearances were masked by compartmentalized quarantines. Soon after a breakthrough was had by utilizing the advanced arcane sciences that the Lich Anubis had previously introduced to Lupina's people.

Many new species of subhumans were introduced to the world. Harpies, Lamia, Minotaurs, Cat people, Fishmen, and even Torlions were brought into existence among many others. The one species that enticed Lady Lupina the most though were the Werewolves.

She eagerly leapt at the chance to cast aside her humanity and partook of the accursed serum. She bathed in the ecstasy of her newfound power and broke the most sacred rule of the Starships by ordering the return of her first born child Varulven. He came hoping to learn what madness had befallen his people.

The fates of Varulven and Lupina are unknown. Due his to his absence the the Dragon Kin numbered 6 instead of the originally intended 7. Which only dropped further with the deaths of Shatter Star and Kul'Nar.

The propagation of werewolves after The Fall is well known. They went on to become a scourge in all the lands they chose to inhabit ever since. Yet despite this there are still those who willingly seek to join the tribes of the Lycan Clans. They seek to gain the power necessary to escape the hopeless shackles of their humanity. They seek to abandon their human responsibilities but often just end up just trading their shackles in for a collar.

Behavior

Coming Soon...

Dual Bloodlines

While the largest of Lycan tribes tends to exhibit a rather specific range of genetic variance, the potential for genetic diversity outside of these super packs is immense. The most commonly observed genetic variations tends to work on a sliding scale. The following are some of the more commonly noted points of diversity among werewolf breeds…Muscular Density, Muscular Bulk,Skeletal scale, bone density,Transformation Speed, Transformation Range,Transformation Anatomical Order,Biped to Quadrupedal Movement,Snout Length, Tail Length,Fur density, Fur length,Metabolism, Regenerative SpeedSkin Elasticity, Hide Density,Claw length, Ear length,Auditory Range, Visual Range,Olfactory Range, Pain Threshold,Curse Infectivity, Birthrate,and Lupine Persistence in human form.

The lead determining factor that controls the degree by which these traits present themselves is known as a Werewolf’s Dual Bloodlines. That is to say that an individual’s, human, genetic lineage only determines approximately half of the attributes that could be dominant in their final wolf form. The rest are determined by the cursed bloodline of the werewolf that initially passed the curse on to them.

For example if genetically identical twins were bitten by the same 1 werewolf they should end up with near identical wolf forms. The same would apply in the case were 1 twin is already a werewolf and later bites their still human twin sibling. They would both have the same human and lupine bloodlines and thus genetically similar wolf forms.

Another example would be were 1 Werewolf bites 2 different humans of distinct bloodlines. In such a case you could potentially have very distinct final wolf forms between the 2 recipients. Rarely a sort of genetic jackpot might be hit upon where the upper limits of an individual’s wolf form could be wildly stronger than their initiating werewolf. Though it’s also possible to draw the genetic short end of the stick and end up with a frail wolf form, relatively speaking.

In scenarios were the receiving individual was a werewolf from birth the potential for genetic diversity will typically diversity will be greatly reduced if the parents are both from the same bloodline of werewolf. Though other determining factors such as whether both parents are werewolves, if they’re from differing bloodlines, and whether just the mother or father was the sole werewolf between the two would inversely greatly increase the potential for genetic variety in the final wolf form.

Lunar Rhythm

Many a newly turned Werewolf has met their untimely demise by misjudging their Lunar Rhythm. Lunar Rhythm simply put is a type of circadian rhythm unique to werewolves. Much like how a normal human cannot remain perpetually asleep or awake a werewolf cannot remain in human or wolf form indefinitely.

This phenomena almost always ends in bloodshed for those ignorant of this new bodily function. Whether the person cursed revels in the power their wolf form affords or they outright resists the urge to turn with all their might the outcome will be the same. Sooner or later their current form will burn out and the cursed individual will be pushed into a Forced Shift.

A Forced Shift usually has disastrous consequences for newly turned lycanthropes. A murderous werewolf could end up reverting to human form mid rampage, leaving them open to retaliation. An upstanding citizen resisting the temptation could end up suddenly turning amidst family and friends leading to the deaths of countless individuals as they instinctively seek out sustenance to restore their depleted reserves.

The only way to prevent ones newfound instincts getting the better of them, is to balance out their transformations. Through experience Werewolves will learn the limitations of their Lunar Rhythm and become better equipped to avoid worse case scenarios. Even beyond all this a Lycanthrope would still have to contend with the Forced Transformations that the full moon evokes in them. Its thanks to these incessant hassles that most lycanthropes will inevitably abandon their old lives all together.